The rear hatch on our 2005 Toyota Sienna, after being opened, comes down almost immediately and can hit a person who is reaching into the back cargo area and cause injury. Other people have also reported this same dangerous malfunction online as far back as 2007.

- Louisville, CO, USA

Cpsc:I currently own 2 2005 Toyota Sienna minivans. I've had one for at least 8 years (now has ~212,000 miles and the other I purchased in the last month (has ~127,000). The engine in my original van has been wonderful however currently you cannot open either of the sliding side doors, with the automatic option or manually. The automatic feature broke. Updated the consumer stated the vehicle's hatch door would not always close and the sliding doors have come off track and become inoperative. 08/18/2017

- Independence, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the automatic rear door failed to open. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not notified of this issue. The approximate failure mileage was 98,000.

- Round Lake, IL, USA

Rear lift gate opened with remote while I started to pack my van leaving on a trip, the lift gate started to close on me. I had this happen several times in the cold weather. I contacted Toyota telling them I thought it was a safety issue, asked if there was a recall or something out there to get this resolved was told there was no recall. It happened to me again on Nov 14 2024. And again today Nov 16th 2024. I think this is a safety issue what if a child was standing by their parent and accidentally got clipped by this liftgate. Hopefully you can press Toyota to fix this dangerous issue.

- Binghamton, NY, USA

After the rear hatch struts were replaced for the recall, the rear hatch when opened manually flies open so fast it has hit me the head. Toyota said the new struts have more pressure to hold the door up so it will open faster, but this is dangerous. The door never opened this fast with the old struts. Toyota needs to resolved this issue.

- North Olmsted , OH, USA

Power lift gate slam down hard to close upon reaching max opening lift. Was reaching out to put something in the back and lift gate started shutting down on me, very hard. I was able to get out of the way on time.

- Rego Park, NY, USA

A recall was issued for the rear lift gate struts. Immediately after having this done the rear lift gate would not close all the way and would open back up after going half the way down. On occasion the rear lift gate has flown open half way down. Toyota informed us that the gas pressure in the new struts was the problem and they would not fix it. I wish I had not had the recall done as I did not have a problem before then. It has been an on going problem. I have to apply pressure to the back door to prevent it opening on closing every time.

- Northlake, TX, USA

The struts of the door(liftgate) is not holding the door properly when it is opened. So there is a possibility the person who opens the door will hit their head. The failure started @ 70K.

- Lewiwsville, TX, USA

Regarding NHTSA id# 08V244000 aloha I have a 2005 Toyota Sienna which had the gas struts recall for my power tailgate which was done on 04/13/2009 work order# 656115 from servco Toyota in Hawaii. However its been only 3 years and the gas struts are failing again. It seems to need a new pair every 3 years. I hope you can have Toyota recall the newly designed struts because according to Toyota they are supposed to have a longer life than the original but after reading some comments online I noticed I am not the only one who has the same problem with new struts failing again. Mahalo for your time.

- Kaneohe, HI, USA

The liftgate struts were replaced under the recall in October 2008. Rear liftgate struts do not work now. The liftgate will not stay open. We have to hold it open while another person retrieves items from the rear cargo area. The struts began failing intermittently in the winter of 2010. I complained to my dealership, but the liftgate worked for them, so they would grease them. In the winter of 2011, liftgate struts quit working. The struts don't work in hot and cold climates. I've shown this to my dealership again this year and they referred me to Toyota customer care. Customer care issued a case number and said they can't help me, but my dealership would contact me. I never was contacted and had to contact them myself. They refused to replace for free, but quoted me an outrageous amount. I haven't replaced the struts yet. I have 3 young children which could be seriously injured by the liftgate falling. It has already bumped my husband and I in the head.

- Altha, FL, USA

After Toyota dealership replaced liftgate struts due to recall number 08V244000, the new struts cause the liftgate to open rapidly when opened manually, that is not using the power mode. Liftgate opens so rapidly that injury is possible if you are not prepared to or are unable to move out of the way.

- Ooltewah, TN, USA

Toyota safety recall for liftgate support replacement completed. Since then, liftgate does not work consistently. Works better during cooler weather. Tailgate will start to close, go halfway, then reopen fully. After 2 or 3 attempts tailgate flies open quickly and could injure someone if they were in the arc of the tailgate swing. Taken to the dealer 3 times to repair this- last time, dealer reprogrammed the tailgate motor, and told me if this continued the liftgate motor would need to be replaced for about $1000. Had no (0) problems with the liftgate prior to the safety recall, and dealer is trying to tell me the liftgate motor is going bad (and has nothing to do with replacing the liftgate struts.) I think Toyota needs to replace the liftgate motors, as they are unable to overcome the liftgate strut pressures.

- Decatur, TX, USA

2005 Toyota Sienna: During cool/cold weather, the automatic lift gate closes immediately and without as soon as it fully opens - both when using the key fob and when opened manually. The problem began in 2009, abated during the summer of 2010 and has begun again in Nov. 2010 now that the cool weather is upon us.

- Potomac, MD, USA

My son was opening the rear hatchback of my 2005 Toyota Sienna, he opened it fully and without warning it closed almost injuring my 3 year old who was climbing in the trunk and hitting my older son who was opening it on the back. Now the hatchback closes without being propped up. It is very difficult to load groceries and you need two adults to do this one to prop up the door and one to load the groceries. My main concern is having one of my five children get hurt or killed. The door is heavy enough to seriously injured or killed.

- Kelowna, 00, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the rear lift gate no longer stays up on it owns. The contact had the rear lift gate repaired for this same problem in July 2007 and now the gate needs to be repaired again. The dealer stated that this normal and they have to be replaced ever few years. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 70,000.

- Manuet, NY, USA

I had by 2005 Toyota Sienna fixed the recall letter I had regarding back hydraulic strut on my back door. This was done on last week of March this year(2010) at penske Toyota. After 3 months of using the back door, 1. it intermittently will go down half way and will go back to open position. 2. when opening the door manually, it will snap open wildly almost to the point of injuring your face. Note-these 2 conditions never happened prior to the recalled replacement.

- Lakewood, CA, USA

My rear hatch on the 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan does not stay up when opened. The weight of the rear door (trunk) makes this very dangerous as I put things in and take them out because I have to hold it up with one hand. No accidents or anything else occurred, so I think it is just a wear issue. The dealership is charging an excessive amount to fix it. Also my sliding passenger side door will not work automatically when the button is pushed anymore. No accidents or other damage.

- Teaneck, NJ, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. While attempting to place items in the trunk of the vehicle, the rear tailgate failed and struck the contact on her head. The failure caused a deep gash. There were no prior warnings. The contact then proceeded to go to the hospital and had her wounds cleaned. She is currently on medication for the severe headaches caused by the liftgate failure. The contact is in the process of taking the vehicle to the dealer for further inspection. She will also notify the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 65,000.

- Saylorsburg , PA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Sienna. The contact stated that the passenger side sliding door sticks and is extremely difficult to open. She has to use excessive force to open the door. The door also freezes in the winter. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer three or four times, but they could not duplicate the failure. The dealer stated that once the 36 month warranty expired, the repair would cost $1,800. In addition, the rear automatic hatchback closes prematurely and too quickly, which could injure the contact's children. The failure mileage was 20,000 and current mileage was 32,000.

- Montclair, NJ, USA

My 2005 Toyota Sienna liftgate struts failed on 2-27-2009 when the open door collapsed without being supported as it normally would by the struts. My wife still had her hands under the door and was able to catch it to prevent it from falling onto my son who was under the door. This is a manually operated door, not a power operated door, and the local Toyota dealer service department says it is not covered by the previous recall for this problem. This should not happen on a four year old car, and is still a safety issue that Toyota should repair. Why is this failure covered under a recall for a powered door but not for a manually operated one? this door can freefall all the way down, so is potentially more dangerous than the powered one due to the speed with which it can fall, in my opinion. As a result of the failure to include all struts in ths recall, I will now be forced to carry a 2X4 to prop open the liftgate while waiting for a new recall to be issued before I can get it fixed. This is a dangerous situation that should have been recalled along with the other faulty doors, and it appears that someone or some organization(s) decided that economics was more important that consumer safety. You need to correct this mistake.

- Chester, VA, USA